In some automotive vehicle bodies, such as found in hardtop models in which the door window panel opening is not surrounded by a frame, the vehicle window is guided in its raising and lowering movements solely by a window regulator mechanism and a fixed guide rod, both of which are mounted within the window well formed by outer and inner panels of the door structure. When the window panel is fully raised it must meet and rest against resilient body seals mounted on the vehicle body structure framing the door opening.
In a conventional installation, a guide bracket is bolted or otherwise secured to a lower portion of the window panel. The guide bracket has upper and lower flanges that extend laterally of the plane of the window panel toward the guide rod. Mounted on the flanges are guide members that slidably engage the guide rod. The guide members are bolted to the flanges, either the flanges or guide members being provided with oversized holes or slots to permit adjustment of the window panel to be made to insure that the panel will be properly seated relative to the body seals or weather strips.
Under current in-plant procedures, during body assembly, the individual responsible for the fitting of the window panel to the door opening and the body seals must estimate the adjustment necessary to properly meet the seals. The individual then must open the partially assembled door, make the estimated adjustment, and then close the door to determine if the adjustment was proper. If the adjustment was not correct, as is often the case, the procedure must be repeated. Due to assembly line speed, however, the individual runs out of either time or patience and merely tightens down the guide member bolts without achieving an optimum fit of the window panel to the body seals. Consequently, the fits are poor and warranty problems, such as extensive wind noise and water leakage, are created.
As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,632 issued Oct. 4, 1977 to R. Fukumoto, et al. for "Window Glass Mounting Means for Automobiles", it is necessary in order to insure proper locations of the window glasses with respect to the weather sealing strips, to employ adjustment devices in the window glass guide means so that the lateral positions of the upper edges of the window glasses can be adjusted as desired. Patentee further points out that conventional adjusting mechanisms have been found disadvantageous because it is required to make adjustments at two bolt-slot connections. Fukumoto, et al. state it was an object of their invention to provide window glass mounting means with means for adjusting the lateral position of the window glass through actuation of a single screw. Even the single screw adjustment device, however, does not overcome the objection that the assembly line worker must open and close the vehicle door several times to see that a proper fit has been made, and if not made, to further adjust the actuating screw.